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Hi AllI am looking to buy a Yamaha Clavinova off of ebay.There is a CLP 360, CLP810S, CLP 155, CLP411, CVP 30 and a CVP 55 all for the same price range.Despite my best efforts to look for descriptions of these models I cannot find anything.So, do you guys have any recommendations as to which would be best to buy (or even an order of best to worst?)I am brand new to pianos and want a digital piano that has a full keyboard, touch sensitivity, and scope for me to improve in the future (in whatever direction that may be)Thanks to anyone who may offer help and guidence.

The Clp-270 is amazing if you have the money. Speakers are amazing (better than the grandpiano versions). The 280 is much more expensive for the same touch and sound (beside wood layers on the side of the white keys).

Anyway, it's quite a good feeling to own one of those.

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"The quantity of intelligence carried by the sounds must be the true criterion of the validity of a particular music." Iannis Xenakis

I wouldn't buy any of those models. You would be much better off looking at a brand new digital piano. Yamaha and Casio both do decent entry level models for just a few hundred pounds, and you'd be getting a brand new instrument.

Also, you can audition these in advance and pick the model you like best rather than taking a punt in the dark on eBay.

he must be looking at something cheap but in home piano form. so, the newest CLP and better ones might not be within his reach.

magic number or not, the point is that DP technology has advanced quickly in past 10 years so that those old models, no matter how good condition they might be in, are really outdated too much from the DP technolody point of view, and not worth much of considering, despite how cheap their price may be.

My situation is that I am just moving house so money is obviously fairly tight.My thoughts were to get a cheapish piano for 6-8 months and if I get on well with playing, to upgrade to a newer version towards the end of the year.

My budget is only about £430 and I haven't seen a new piano for this range. However, by Oct I should be able to afford up to £1000. I just don't want to wait till latter year to start learning.

Would it be detrimental to learn on a 10yr out of date piano and then try switching to one which is more realistic to playing a piano?

I would take this without looking back. I know a young Italian student from conservatorium who is earning some pennies to his tight student budget by playing in a restaurant of my friend. He uses exactly SP250 for this and plays mostly classic. When I asked him (as a professional musician) he told me SP250 would be more than fine DP. I also hear this piano in action very often as I pop to this place from time to time and all I can say SP250 is excellent choice on a tight budget. I tried it only once there when Mario was not playing and SP250 sounded great.

it seems that CVP201 is not a bad choice, which has GH action at least better than GHS on P85. they all have 64 polyphony. if that price is close to what you're willing to spend or to that of P85, then it would be good. but be sure you check out the condition of that CVP201 and play it before deciding.

imho, it is not wise to buy something "temporary" and hope to upgrade to something better later. If you are serious about playing piano (even if a total beginner like myself) it is best to buy the best (and that means the most expensive, sadly) thing in the world so that you conentrate on learning to play and not on thinking whether you made the right choice.

This basically means you should get Yamaha Clavinova CLP-280 now Or, if there is just NO WAY for your budget to stretch to £2259 then go for CLP-270 or as an absolute minimum CLP-240. Many may think I am joking (as even CLP-240 is such a fine piano that should suit even an intermediate/advanced player really). But I am not. I give you a good advice with the view of a very dangerous syndrome --- the gear acquisition one.

There is an ancient saying in the East --- There is nothing cheaper than the most expensive stuff (the moral being --- you won't need to spend more on buying something better).

Also, I don't recommend you to buy it via ebay. Although I am a very old ebay user and buy (and sometimes even sell) a lot via ebay, the pianos are different in that ebay is not the best place to buy them from. (Mind you, I sold my DGX-620 via ebay recently).

The best prices on CLP-280 PE at the moment (in the UK) are from Chappel of Bond Street (£2259) and Turnkey.co.uk (£2200 if you point Chappell's price out to them). Get CLP-280 and enjoy your learning to play (and forget about shopping for a "better" DP for a long time as there is none

Tigran, I think you are kidding but please have some respect for people whose pockets are not that deep like yours.

Seriously I would say for utmost budget piano I would consider Casio PX200, 320 and 720.

For entry level DP I would look at Yami CLP220 or (if more pennies) CLP230. Alternatives could be Roland HP201 which is very nice for the money and is close in key and sound to HP203 but lacks a few gimmicks.

Of course for serious snobs (like Tigran) :p I would recommend either HP207 or CLP280 (or CLP270 if you do not mind missing wooden keys). Believe me, wooden keys do not mean you get a real piano key feel. If in doubt then go to a shop and try top of the line DP alongside with real grands from Yami or Steinway. I did it and that erased all my illusions.

I was both kidding and serious. The serious part is that, indeed, buying a more expensive item (not just in DP, in other areas too) often turns out to be more economical at the end. But the kidding part was "you have to get CLP-280 [_specifically_]". Of course there are several other fine DPs out there --- e.g. Roland HP-207, Kawai CA-91 (and 71) and probably many others I haven't tried. It would be foolish to seriously insist that CLP-280 is the _only_ good DP. But of all those I tried I liked CLP-280 best.

And I do understand that getting wooden keys (especially only _white_ wooden keys) doesn't make a DP equal to an acoustic grand. I only got CLP-280 (as opposed to 270) because it subjectively _felt_ better/easier to play, that's all

Btw, I completely agree with you on PX-720 but I would add PX-800 to the list (except for those rumours of wobbly black keys...) and, for a bit more money, AP-500. I haven't tried any of these Casio but judging from the specs in their manuals they do have almost everything I would desire of a DP (except different temperaments and ability to have a custom temperament).

Tirgan, sorry for pulling your leg, this is Sunday anyway. CLP280 is of course a Maserati among digital pianos so I agree if one has pennies it makes every sense to consider this model. Of course you get what you pay for, so I would not compare PX800 to CLP280 or even 230.However one may be surprised with Casio which managed to pull a few excellent models for people on the budget.

It's all about the budget, damn thing

but I agree with you that it makes no sense buy cheap things with a hope of upgrading in future. a penny-pinching person often pays twice.

Glasweg, agree and not agree. a proper acoustic is of course superior but it also needs space and is heavy to move around. For some people like me this is a problem because I do not want bulky things around unless I get a spacious mansion. I kicked out a century old piano (300 kilos weight) all wood because this was taking space and was impossible to tune. I like the design and feel of an acoustic but I realized digital piano convenience. Surely for a hobby or just for basic learning DP is more than enough. I would buy an acoustic only if my daughter or me are serious into playing piano, otherwise makes no sense.

£3K is about 4K eur and 700£ is 945 eur. this is NOT a small difference i guess. also this depends which brand you took for the upright, Yami or smth else. i doubt you could get some renowned European brand like Bechstein for this money.

anyway, i would not argue that on average a good DP will be always cheaper than a good upright, plus DP gives you durability and compactness which you do not have with an acoustic. if in doubt try move around your room a 200 kilo upright and then a 70 kilo CLP280. :p

Hi I hope I'm doing this post in the right place. I noticed in the conversation above the mention of a clavinova clp360. Now, I have one of these, I bought it in early 1992. At the time I believe it was Yamaha's entry level full 88 key digital piano, with a real weighted feel. I can't remember what they called the technology at the time, but I remember in the store they had about 6 keys held together in a perspex case showing the mechanism. It has served me well, it is is good nick apart from for some reason middle g has sunk a couple of milimetres out of allignemnt with the other keys, irritating sometimes, but not a real problem. Anyway I am now thinking of getting a new one and I'm guessing that virtually whatever I get will sound better than the old 360 - given 20 years on. I'm wondering if the feel will be as good too. I would like to get the YDP 140, (mainly because of limited buget, )would that feel as good as the old 360, does anyone know if this part of the technology has improved as much as the sounds etc. Any feedback would be very helpful, and do not hesitate to ask for further clarification. Thanks. J.